posted
on Thursday, July 13, 2017
Let’s take another look into the patient experience. Let’s pretend that we have Patient A and Patient B in a waiting room. Patient A has been waiting 20 minutes for his appointment. Patient B has been waiting the same amount of time, but he has been kept informed of the wait time delays by the front office staff. Patient B later would go on to say he had a better patient experience, even though the wait time was long. Why? it's simple. Communication. Because the communication about the wait time shows that the practice understands the patient's time is valuable.
This concept is referred to as Waiting Room Rounding. Whenever the patient wait is approaching 15-20 minutes, a support person rounds the waiting room updating patients. This helps with patient expectations and perceptions of having to wait for their provider.
According to research from Gallup, the factors that distinguish between a good patient experience and a bad one focus on a patient-centered practice with convenient services.
What are some of the top differentiating factors when it comes to providing good patient experience?
- Patient is kept informed of wait times
- Ease of getting someone to help with billing questions
- Staff care and compassion
- Speed of getting appointment in urgent situation
- Convenience of office hours
- Office ambiance
- Wait times
If you are not sure what patients think about your practice, consider surveying patients after their visits.
Check out POS Surveys -- a patient satisfaction platform to let you know where you stand with your patients.